I Can't Get There From Here
by HappilyyNeverAfter
Summary: After getting in over his head, Ponyboy finds himself along side Curly Shepard in River View Academy, a disciplinary boot camp. While inside, Pony is beaten and abused up until his breaking point. No one's allowed to leave until they admit to their 'mistakes' and turn around completely with a new attitude and outlook...and River View makes it happen, no matter what it takes.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own the _Outsiders_. S.E. Hinton does.

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**It's because they love you.**

"Excuse me. I have to go to the bathroom."

"Tough luck kid," the man driving the bus replies. His name's Henry and he checks the rear-view mirror every thirty seconds. I've been keeping track to see if he breaks the consistency. He doesn't.

I squirm a little in my seat. There's a man beside me keeping an eye on me and believe me, he's doing a pretty good job of that. He's wearing sunglasses and it's pitch dark outside. I can't tell if he's asleep or not but he's facing me like he's watching every move I make.

I stare down at my hands. The cuffs on them are starting to make them numb. I have matching cuffs around my ankles to make sure I don't try to make a run for it. "How much longer?"

Henry hits another deep pot-hole and the bus tips to the right. "Long," he says rudely. "You can beg all you want, sport. You ain't goin' to the bathroom. It's the oldest trick in the book."

I don't see what the big deal is. It's not like I can go very far with my ankles latched together and my hands.

I can hear Curly grumbling behind me. I'm at the front of the bus and he's in the back, far away from me. There's a guard watching him too but he's not wearing sunglasses or watching Curly. It seems like it'd be the other way around and I'd have that guard and Curly'd have mine.

The road we're on is all gravel. We were on a highway for a while. That was the highlight of the trip. Now it's all bumps and holes and it's making my stomach turn. I don't ask him to pull over so I can collect my insides. I already know the answer to that one.

It's four in the morning right now and I haven't slept. We boarded the bus around nine. I wouldn't say board exactly. We didn't willingly jump on and tell Henry to hit it. It was a battle from the beginning.

I try to cross my legs to hold in my bladder. I don't think any of these guys would blink if I just peed on the floor right here. By the looks of the floor, it's been done before. I don't chance it though. My eyelids are starting to get weak.

Ruben is shaking me. That's my guards name. He isn't much of a talker which I like. Curly's guard on the other hand, he won't stop talking. "No sleeping," Ruben barks.

I lean my head against the window. I can faintly make out trees. Wherever we are, it isn't close to anything. We've been up this road for an hour now. It's one lane, and we haven't crossed paths with another car yet.

Wherever we're going, they want to make sure no one can find it.

OoOoOo

**No one runs.**

Ruben drags me out of the bus with a firm grip. After sitting in that position for so long, my legs feel like jelly and it takes me a minute to steady myself. Ruben keeps walking, his hand tight on my wrist. "Don't try to run. You won't get very far. There's nowhere to go. It's all woods up here."

I look around at our surroundings and see that he's right. It's even darker now and the only light we have is from the headlights of the bus. The lights are beaming on the tall chain-link fence topped with loops of razor wire. I gulp.

Curly comes out of the bus next. He's sleepy-eyed and about to fall over and his guard has to shake him a couple of times before he finally comes to and realizes where exactly we've landed.

"Oh fuck."

OoOoOo

**We take pride of our campus.**

A car comes around and picked us up, taking us through the fence and on the inside.

I'm allowed to sit by Curly now. He's not talking, just looking out the window in awe as am I. It's another gravel road that goes straight up hill like it's going to lead us to a huge ranch along with a huge house.

We pass a track that surrounds a large field with football goals and soccer goals. It's not painted and it doesn't have bleachers. The track doesn't have any numbers or paint either. They're just plan.

On my side there's a basketball court with goals without nets. This has some paint. Only enough to draw a three point line. No half-court line between the two goals and there's a fence surrounding it that matches the outside one.

We continue to go up hills. It feels like we're on a roller coaster ride. If only we were.

"Welcome home, Ponyboy," Curly snickers.

"No talking!" It's Curly's guard who snaps at us. He's bigger than Ruben with broader shoulders and a nasty scowl. Just looking at him makes me want to keep my lips zipped. Curly, on the other hand, doesn't seem bothered.

There's a lot of farm land up here. I see lots of hay and grass but no horses or cows or any life actually. It's like a graveyard. If I didn't know any better, I'd think I was being led to death row.

The car comes to a stop and we're allowed to finally get out with the help of our guards.

I look up at where we've stopped. I can make out five or six buildings none over two stories tall. There's a blinding light on top of the tallest building aimed right at us. It's silent except for some bugs which are louder than greaser's engines.

Then all goes quiet and the bugs sit still.

And all we hear is spine shivering screams.

OoOoOo

**Welcome to River View**

Curly is taken in the opposite direction as soon as we enter.

I'm finally allowed to use the bathroom and that's when I notice no doors. Ruben stands behind me, watching me. It takes me a minute to finally pee. I've never liked a audience. Ruben seems like a patient kind of guy and doesn't comment. He doesn't let me wash my hands before he leads me to a small room.

I'm instructed to stand. Ruben takes off my handcuffs and it feels like heaven on my hands and feet.

"Thank you," I say.

Two other men come in and stand with their arms crossed in front of me. Ruben leaves for a few minutes and my legs are starting to go to sleep. There's a cot behind me but I'm too scared to go to it.

I wonder how Curly's doing. I'm sure he's cracking jokes with his guard. I wonder if he's tried anything yet. Probably not. It's too early. He's going to wait at least a day before doing something.

Standing here makes me start to think more. Like about Soda and Darry.

Ruben returns with folded clothes which he lays down on the cot behind me. "Clothes off."

I do as I'm told despite the fact that there's two other men standing in front of me watching. I leave my underwear on but am instructed to ditch those two. My face turns red at that and I can see one of the guys slightly smile.

Ruben gives me my clothes which I quickly change into. He's taken off his sunglasses and I can see his eyes now. They're dark, not inviting. I think I might have preferred the sunglasses to be honest.

Ruben leaves and orders me to sleep. He slams the door shut behind him, leaving his two goons to stay with me. "Welcome to River View, kid. This ain't your everyday boot camp."

I lie on the bed and make a pillow out of my hands. There's no sheets either. I shiver and shut my eyes.

The bed's hard as rocks. I shut my eyes and try to sleep but all I can seem to do is think about Soda and Darry. My pillow is soon soaked with tears and the alarm is going off.

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**A/N: ** Please note that because I don't really have any plans so updates will be sporadic so please be patient with me. This is just an idea I wanted to try out. I might co-author this with someone. I don't know yet. Yay for my first story!

I hope you enjoyed. Thank you for reading!


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